This Time It's Personal!

I took a break from blogging about empowering people via human motivation, innovation, building better workplaces and whatnot in May of 2012. Since then, I started a business, ended a long term relationship, ended a business, went traveling in Southeast Asia, took a TEFL course, fell in love, moved to Thailand and got a job: teaching blogging to high school students, and fell out of love.

I started Eating Lightbulbs because I was inspired by Dan Pink and his book Drive to change the world. I started out naively thinking that if I started doing something exciting and important that everything else would just work out. That somehow something would come together and my research and insights would make a difference.

That was at the beginning of 2010. I was out of work after getting laid off and had just come back from spending three months traveling around Asia. I had some money in the bank and a supportive girlfriend! I started this blog and read all the sources that Dan used to write Drive and kept on reading.  A year and a half later, I ran out of money and had to start looking for work.

That year and a half of research was one of the most exciting and enjoyable times of my life. I love doing research, learning about new ideas, and figuring out how to apply these new discoveries. My brain was fully turned on for the first time since I had graduated from college!

The job hunt I embarked on was highly stressful. In a year, I applied for 400 jobs, got 40 responses, and made it to the final interview 12 times. With Out A Single Offer. At the same time, my partner was diagnosed with an immune system disease, her uncle was diagnosed with cancer, and I was diagnosed with hypogonadism. By the end of the year, my long-term relationship was dissolving. In short, it was the worst year I have had in the last 20.  2012 is a four-letter word!

In the end, I created an opportunity for a consulting gig and worked for myself for six months. Just before the end of the contract, my relationship imploded, and I decided it was time to leave the building. So, I hit the road, and here you find me, alive and well in Bangkok.

My original idea for this blog was to only write about topics with empirical evidence, “Just that facts, ma’am.” I am coming to realize that people have too many facts, and what they want are answers. I have also figured out that it is stories that stick with us. It is stories that help our ideas come to life and live on.

A year and a half in Toastmasters taught me that I really like to write and give speeches. I have no problem talking in public about the most personal things, and it turns out that when I reveal something deeply personal during a speech, it helps connect me to the audience like iron to a magnet. So, here I am again to serve you, and this time it’s personal!

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Starting over is bittersweet. The joy of moving to a new place is like a hot fudge sunday and the sadness of leaving someplace that’s been one of the best places I’ve ever lived is like eating overcooked steak. If you know me, you know how much I hate steak, which is not very rare. I am very excited to be starting a new adventure and, in many ways, a new life. I’m also sad to move away from friends who are my family and the best city I have ever lived in.

The last three times I traveled, email and internet cafes were up and running, but social networking was lacking. I hope I can better stay in touch with folks via social networking, Google Voice, and Skype. Historically, I’ve been very good at being where I am but not so good at being where I’m not. I tend to focus on the now and live in the moment.

All of my friends always have an open invitation to come to visit me wherever I am, and my west coast friends have been good at taking me up on that. Hopefully, that will continue, and some of you will come to visit me in whatever amazing place I end up in. I will come back to the states once in a while. I will be back at the end of July to take care of some things, and pick up the rest of my stuff and then I’ll go back to Asia and find a place to live.

I am super excited about starting a new phase of my life, and this trip will be the longest and most adventurous one yet! I’m reminded of Doctor Seuss's book, “The Places You’ll Go!” I only have a vague idea of how I will spend the next six months, which is just fine with me. I may spend a month in 6 countries or two months in 3 countries or…

I’ll miss my crazy, amazing friends and all the weird stuff we end up doing. I’ll miss the Bay Area and all it has to offer. I won’t miss the stress or the “rat race,” as my dad would call life in the US. It’s time to open a new door and not quite close an old one.

Be Grateful!

What are you grateful for? Do you like your family, friends, job, or dog?  Do you have enough food, a roof over your head, or interesting challenges to pursue?  Being grateful is a symptom of having enough, of your cup being at least half full. If you’re grateful, chances are your content and possibly happy.

 I’m grateful for having a fantastic life that’s overflowing with wonderful people.  I have the best friends a human being can have.  They are supportive, helpful, and caring and give me a kick in the ass when I need it.  I’ve not had much room for new people in my life for the last several years. Since I started on this new path of research, blogging, and the constant assimilation of new ideas, I’ve been meeting lots of new and interesting people, for which I’m very grateful.

 I’m grateful for having a partner who has changed my life in ways I could not have imagined before now.  She’s talented, intelligent, creative, and caring, and she puts up with me!  Thanks to her, we have a happy little nest to call home. I’ve never been happier, and she’s played a massive part in that happiness.

 I’m grateful for the life I’ve led and the things I’ve done.  I’ve made a small contribution to many people’s lives, from delivering excellent service to folks at work, volunteering, or simply being there to hold someone’s hand or listen to a tale of woe.  My teenage years were not my best, and at times I was hurtful. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to become a better person and make up for those early years.

I’m grateful that I’m silly most of the time and that I don’t let serious things get too serious or let them infect my enthusiasm or positive outlook. Being light-hearted and staying young at heart is at the center of who I am and has been one of my most helpful practices.  It can be infectious, and I love it when it spills over onto others.  

I’m grateful for the challenges I’ve faced, the horrible ones, as well as the ones I sought out. Getting through difficult experiences forges our character and prepares us for even more difficult challenges.  I’m certainly not glad about the people in my life who have gotten sick or died.  I am glad I could be there for them and others.   I’ve had my share of tragedy, but suffering is relative, and it’s not that you suffer, but how you suffer that matters, so I’m grateful for suffering too.

 I’m grateful for the amazing future that is just around the corner, the one that is pregnant with possibilities, and that’s only limited by me.  It’s a great time to be alive and to live in San Francisco.  There’s such a great mix of art, science, education, and culture here!  It’s an inspiring place to live and a great place to have new ideas.  

I’m grateful to you, dear reader, and I wish you the happiest holiday season. Without you, this blog wouldn’t be nearly so helpful.  It’s my hope that some of you out there find my research and writing helpful, that in some small way, it makes your life better or at least gets your neurons vibrating a bit. So go forth and be grateful!

Back to Reality Camp

I don’t do things halfway and seldom check to see how deep the water is before diving in. I’ve been going to Burning Man since 2002 when a friend told me about it during a camping trip in Death Valley. I’ve been volunteering for Burning Man year-round since 2002. My entire life, except my work life, has revolved around burning man. I’ve not missed a burn since I started going. Those are my people; it’s the first time in my life that I felt like I fit in. Being involved so deeply has served me well.

I just spent 17 days in the desert working and enjoying the event. The event itself has never meant very much to me. Most of what I got out of being involved with Burning Man came from the year-round communities I helped to build. It’s the other 50 weeks of the year I’ve gotten so much out of.  After nine years, I need more. It’s time to find or help build communities that are focused on having a more direct effect on the world and helping people live more meaningful lives. 

I certainly won’t walk away from the burner communities that are so much of my life. Without them, I’d not have any friends, and my friends are my family. I don’t anticipate changing who I spend time with, but I’m done with doing volunteer work for Burning Man. That energy and time will go into my work, which has become my life.

It’s always bittersweet saying goodbye. I feel like Temple Grandin opening the door to a new world. Sometimes opening a new door means closing an old one. So thank you, Burning Man! You’ve helped me grow into someone I like quite a bit, and I hope I’ve helped you grow. So long, and thanks for the fish.

Hacking at the Branches of Evil

Larry Lessig takes on campaign funding and congress. According to Lessig, excessive campaign dollars are the problem behind most of our nation’s woes. Everything from childhood obesity to global warming, environmental disasters, and our recent financial meltdown can be blamed on special interest groups’ spending money to influence lawmakers.

I prefer to be apolitical. We live in interesting times, and so did the folks who lived in Florence during the Renaissance. They had war, strife, corruption, and great art. We have many big problems to solve and little time to address them. There’s global warming, the economy, health care, the war on terror, moving to the ideal economy, population issues, globalization, human rights, education, and lots more.

And what does this have to do with Motivation 3.0? If we want to have control over our lives, and ensure that they are fulfilling and that we’re happy and engaged, we need a country to live in that supports these values. We can rally for laws that limit climate change all we want, but when XYZ Corp decides it is against this quarter’s profit goals, then we’re screwed.

In Lessig’s latest presentation at TEDx Boston, he talks about the results of a government controlled by big business. Childhood obesity can be traced back to corn subsidies and sugar tariffs, making corn insanely cheap and sugar more expensive in the US by 2 to 3 times more than in any other country. The only reason we feed corn to beef cows is that it is so cheap. Cows can’t digest corn very well. It’s why they get so many antibiotics.  

Let’s look at Deepwater Horizon. This offshore drilling project was approved after only 17 pages of documentation were submitted. The Minerals Management Service exempted them from further documentation, and congress mandated that the project be approved in 30 days. Contrast that with the Cape Wind Project, off the coast of Massachusetts. It took 10,000 pages of documentation and nine years of review for this project to go forward, for wind!

How about global warming? Is there anyone out there doubting we have a global warming problem? The oceans are dying, and the ice caps are melting. We might not all agree on the cause, but it is happening. Lots of learned folks say that we have to do something, that immediate action needs to be taken, or the end is near. So after two years of work, with a majority in the house and senate, a president in favor of taking action, and 110 million dollars spent, what is the result? No action is being taken this cycle; the climate change bill is dead.

I am not going to touch the bailout other than to say that the average salary for the top 10 hedge fund managers was 2.5 billion dollars in 2009, and they only pay 15% in taxes due to capital gains laws.

11% of Americans have confidence in congress. The British Crown had a higher approval rating in America during the American Revolution than congress does today.

Lessig is supporting the Fair Elections Now Act through his website: www.fixcongressfirst.org. It would create citizen-funded elections, and small-dollar donations for citizens only, not corporations, not aliens (that’s foreign citizens, not little green people). So let us get off the couch and strike at the roots.

…government of the People, by the People, for the People shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.

Henry David Thoreau

Retirement is Killing Us.

Like our current educational system, retirement is a creation of the industrial age.  Both institutions were created to serve Industry.  Retirement is the ultimate carrot, but this gilded vegetable is rotten inside.  Our parents and theirs spend their entire lives working for one or two companies, working 48 to 50 weeks a year for 40 years with a promise of relaxation and recreation in our “golden” years. 

I will never retire!

For me, retirement means: “To slowly fade away, to stop making a contribution, to give up my life’s work when I’m at the peak of my profession.”  Why would we stop working at a time when I have the most to contribute?  Why would we give up the opportunity to travel and relax until our health is fragile? 

Common sense dictates that we’d be better off spreading our “golden” years throughout our lives.  We’re taking a gamble that we’ll live long enough to enjoy the carrots of our labor.  This is more evident now than ever before. With our recent financial crash, it’s become apparent that it’s not just life and health we need to sustain to enjoy retirement but also our investment and retirement funds.  Many of which have gone the way of the dinosaur in the last few years.  Is there anyone who doesn’t have a friend or relative who didn’t lose substantial investments in the last few years? 

A small number of companies offer sabbaticals for employees, and as Dan Pink suggests in Drive, take a year off every seven and go travel, take some classes, live in new places or try new projects.  Can you imagine how doing this will increase your quality of life and how much perspective you’ll gain?  Investing time and money in yourself throughout your life will significantly increase the odds that you’ll find your passion and make you more valuable to your profession, your friends and family, and, most importantly, yourself.  I was laid off last May, and instead of panicking and scrambling to find a new job, I started traveling and spent the next eight months traveling in the US, Mexico, and Asia.  It’s the best thing I’ve done in a decade, leading me to research motivation 3.0 and start this blog.  I’m happier than I’ve ever been.  Yes, it’s a risky way to live, but what’s the alternative?  It would have been to sit around the house looking for a new job in IT management, a field I should have escaped from 5 years ago, and being stressed out the whole time with an unhealthy helping of self-doubt. 

So why not redefine the way we live and start planning your adventures now? It takes some planning, saving, going without consumer goods, maybe less eating at restaurants, and you’ll have to take some chances, but you can’t win if you don’t play.  If you can’t make a whole year work, try 3 or 6 months. Hell, try a month. When was the last time you took four weeks off in a row?  

Who, What, Where, Why and How?

Thanks for stopping by!  I’m Eddie Colbeth and this blog is for you.  Please feel free to chime in with your ideas, likes, dislikes and requests or whatnot.  I’ll do what I can. 

For the last few years I’ve been asking myself what’s next?  How can I be more helpful? How can I find more meaningful work?  How can I affect positive change in the world? 

After 20 years in high tech/management it’s time for something more.  What to do?  There are two words that are central to my life: Be Helpful.  Running IT departments has meant that I’ve always been making things better in some way and an agent of positive change.  For a few years now, I’ve wanted to be more directly helpful, but how?  I found my answer while traveling in Asia this past fall.  I watched Dan Pink’s TED presentation on “The Surprising Science of Motivation”, and it blew me away.  When I arrived back in San Francisco in December, Dan’s book ‘Drive’ was published and after reading it, I decided I’d learn everything I could about Motivation 3.0 and that I’d help others to do the same.  

This is the way I can be most helpful, by helping folks to be more fulfilled with their work, to be more efficient, invested, creative, engaged and to help them be part of something larger than themselves. I want to help government, institutions and companies focus on what their employees do, not when, where or how they do it; to focus on results, not hours, to treat people like partners, not automatons. 

The best part is there’s 50 years of research to say that Motivation 3.0 works along with 20 years of practical experience with successful companies to prove it.  

If you would like more from your work life, come along for the ride.  Your comments are greatly appreciated, I’ll answer every one.  I would also like to start online discussion groups to augment self learning, as there are no programs or courses that I know about on these subjects.